Line and Verse
by Verboten Byacolate
Summary: She has always been a nuisance her family. But here, under the strobe lights, behind the scenes, she is a goddess. [Hinata.Naruto, Kiba, and other fanboys][AU]


A huuuuge thank you to my beta, _**Winter Thunder**_!  
_Disclaimer_; Naruto does not belong to me. He belongs to Hinata! 8D

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**Line and Verse

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If you glanced at her, or even stopped to stare her down, you couldn't even begin to guess where she spent her nights. Her long, straight midnight-colored hair that curved a little at the end didn't give away the pulsing beat of the sound machine that lay beneath her skilled fingers. Her sweet, soft voice didn't reveal the way people rotated and gyrated around her all night, touching her as one entity. Her shy demeanor wouldn't even hint the bold, shameless music she made every P.M. with some band or another.

She was modest, which was why everyone who knew her wondered how she'd gotten her high standing in the musical industry.

Some believed her father, the proud Hyuuga Hiashi, king of all he saw, head of Hyuuga Cosmetics, had something to do with it. Surely since he practically had the whole world at his fingertips, he wouldn't put his eldest daughter in the position she was in?

But the people closest to the family knew that Hyuuga Hinata, sound technician extraordinaire, DJ Queen, andmistress of all things with rhythm, was rejected by her father from a very young age. She didn't possess the same abilities the clan as a whole had. She was the princess, but the outcast. It was her past that she least liked to discuss, and rarely spoke of it to anyone.

Straying from her family's idea of a perfect career choice, she'd pursued her dream; music. At first, no one had believed she'd be any sort of candidate for the job she'd wanted most. She was turned away by many different groups, all of which claimed they weren't in need of her services at that time, and could they maybe get back to her some time in the future? She'd left them all her number, knowing full well that she wouldn't be getting their calls.

Then, one day, she'd stumbled upon an ad about a play going on in a nearby city in need of a sound person for the production. The number below the ad said to contact Yuuhi Kurenai, who soon became a close mother figure and confidante. Kurenai was the owner of a theatre, and after discovering Hinata's potential and skill at the sound system, hired her full-time. Hinata would soon learn that full-time meant concerts and operas instead of merely plays.

Her coworkers consisted of Inuzuka Kiba, the young janitor of the buildingand Aburame Shino, the director and coordinator of the plays held. Besides coworkers though, they became Hinata's closest and best friends. Since they all practically lived at the Theatre, Kiba and Shino learned a lot about Hinata. It wasn't until about four months after she had come to work at the Theatre that they found out Hinata's living position- or lack thereof. She was boarding in an old, flea-bag motel about two blocks away. When they (Kiba) got onto her for not telling them, she explained how her father's expectations weren't for her, and it was his way or the highway. Immediately, they (Kiba) stood over her to watch her pack up her few belongings and move into an apartment with them. She had argued at first, but she found they (Kiba) happened to be extremely persuasive in the way that they wouldn't take no for an answer, and she'd get her own room.

After about a year of working at the Theatre, Hinata had been promoted- she was now indispensable. They let her move her large sound booth from its place backstage to the middle of the balcony, above the scene so she could be close, but still watch at a distance. She wasn't the most comfortable being around people, but she liked it more at the audience-like view than having to glance at the performers out of her peripheral vision.

And this way... she could look at him.

His band came to the Theatre often- she supposed they were up-and-coming. Their band, New Sannin, consisted of him; Uzumaki Naruto, the electric guitarist and male lead singer, his two friends Uchiha Sasuke, the drummer and Haruno Sakura, the acoustic guitarist and female lead, and their manager, Hatake Kakashi, who had taken to striking up conversations with Hinata. She learned from Kurenai that Kakashi was the good friend of Sarutobi Asuma, Kurenai's fiance and the Theatre's maintenance man.

In Hinata's small conversations with Kakashi (that took place when New Sannin was practicing before a concert and neither Hinata nor Kakashi were needed) she learned that the band seemed to be just one big unrequited love tryst; Naruto was infatuated with Sakura, Sakura had an undying affection for Sasuke, Sasuke was deeply in love with himself. Hinata hoped Kakashi didn't notice the growing admiration she herself held for the hotheaded blond.

Our story begins on a night like any other with flashing lights, thrashing bodies, and a heartfelt admiration for the blue-eyed New Sannin.

Kiba leaned against the railing and watched her relaxed concentration on the large sound box in front of her. He smirked at every clever move she made, fingers dancing about the board like she'd done it all her life. He could see her calm, solemn face in between moments of darkness from the strobe lights- it was New Sannin's signature song. But it wasn't his type of music, so he was unconcerned about whatever stupid lyrics they spit out. Kiba would have tried to talk to her, knowing full well that she could bake a cake and plant a tree while DJ-ing- she was _that_ experienced. But Hinata, though thoroughly skilled (_perfect's__ more like i__t__ he thought proudly_) took her job very seriously.

As if they would get rid of her if she made one screw-up. Which she probably couldn't do if she tried.

She seemed even more on-edge tonight. Hinata was always more nit-picky and no-nonsense when it came to New Sannin. Kiba wasn't sure why, though. They were just a bunch of newbie prima donnas, if you asked him. But nobody asked him. So his opinion went by unnoticed.

The strobe lights began to flicker faster, signaling the end of the song. Kiba pushed himself off the bar with his elbows and stood beside a focused Hinata. She pushed the row of dials down, one by one, critically eyeing each one. The lighting guy, who went by the name of Rock Lee, flicked the lights off in sync with Hinata's dials, until only one dial was up and one light remained on. Though there were no labels for the numerous dials, buttons, pulleys, and other fun toys on the sound machine, Kiba knew from his experience with Hinata that the dial up was the one that controlled the main sound system. She would turn it off at two o'clock every morning, when it would only be him, and possibly Kurenai or Shino left in the Theatre. Then, she would stay until he was finished cleaning the building, even if they were there till dawn. Sometimes she would fall asleep on Akamaru, who stayed by the back door of the Theatre until Kiba let him in after the people had gone. Sometimes she stayed behind to help him clean, much to his chagrin. Sometimes they would chat the whole time, keeping both awake.

It was that time that Kiba looked forward to every day.

Hinata kept her hair pulled up in a high ponytail whenever she worked. She would shrug off her heavy lavender and cream jacket, tuck her white blouse into her baggy blue cargo pants, and tie up her long navy hair with a white ribbon before "tuning" the machine. It was as if she thought anything loose would hinder her perfection.

"Hey," he whispered as New Sannin took their bows to the cheering crowd. Hinata's eyes had a glazed look to them as she answered with an absent minded, "Hmm?"

He smirked. "Tired of me?"

She blinked furiously and shook her head. "What are you talking about, Kiba-kun?"

The brown-haired man grinned. "Nothin'. You just spaced out on me, is all."

"Sorry," she whispered back. The pale woman covered her mouth as she yawned. He handed her her jacket. She smiled and took it, sliding her arms through the sleeves, leaving the front unzipped.

"It'll take New Sannin about five minutes to gather their junk, and the audience will be gone in about an hour. Let's go grab some ice cream while we wait!"

"It's not junk, Kiba-kun. I'm sure their instruments are their prized possessions. And I have to wait to shut down. Tomorrow we'll get some ice cream, ne?"

Kiba wouldn't argue, though he itched to tell her that she would always sneak out with him when New Sannin wasn't playing. But he simply sighed and held his tongue- what good would upsetting her do?

He turned his head and jumped, knocking into Hinata in doing so. She steadied him and herself while looking over his shoulder at whatever had surprised her friend. "Kakashi-san?" The silver-haired man's visible eye curved like an arch, giving her the impression that he was smiling. Kakashi wore an eyepatch over his left eye and a mask over his mouth and nose, for reasons Hinata knew nothing about.

"Ah, Inuzuka-san, Hyuuga-chan!" He gave them a flip of the hand, a gesture of greeting. "Inuzuka-san, would you mind helping us put up?"

_How about I help you fuck off, jackass?_ he thought bitterly, hating that he was always the lackey in these things. "Well, since these losers apparently think I'm their worker boy..." he turned to Hinata. She blinked back and smiled.

"See you later then, Kiba-kun!" she said kindly, slightly pushing him forward. Kakashi watched him go and then turned to her once more.

"Would you like to come too, Hyuuga-chan?"

Instantly, her face became nothing but a blotch of red, and she waved him off furiously, muttering gobbledy-gook and stuttering uncontrollably. Eventually, she was able to form her words into something he could understand; "I-I've got t-to g-g-go do this... th-thing," and rushed off. Kakashi grinned.

"A simple 'no' would have sufficed, Hyuuga-chan."

Hinata scurried down the stairs and found herself carried along by the current of New Sannin fans. She was bounced into people like a ping-pong ball, and sometimes shoved against a wall. Finding her balance again, she tried to make her way to the exit. She was almost there when a person from behind knocked her hard into the person beside her. Both went crashing to the floor- which, thankfully, happened to be out of the way of the stampede. Hinata rolled away from the person she'd knocked into.

"Ah, I'm so sorry, miss! Here, let me-" Her hand froze where it was, outstretched to help the other woman up. She gasped, finding herself looking into eyes identical to her own.

"Nee-chan?"

"Hanabi?" Hinata squeaked, scrambling backwards, but was immediately bounced back by the crowd. The smaller, dark-brown haired teenager stared up at her older sister. Then she smiled.

"So this is where you work, Nee-chan? Cool! I thought you'd moved much farther away!" Her fingers twitched excitedly, and Hinata noticed two backstage passes caged between them. "So what do you do? Are you a director? A singer? Do you play in the plays? You're not an understudy, are you? Nah, you don't like that kinda stuff." Her nose wrinkled. "Ugh, you're not a janitor are you? I mean, no offense, but it's so not worth leaving H.C. for a mop and bucket."

Hinata blinked. "I'm not a janitor..."

Hanabi grinned. "Didn't think so. Hey, wanna come backstage with me? My friend Moegi was gonna come with me tonight, but she had to take care of her sick boyfriend." The teenager rolled her eyes and grabbed Hinata by the arm, tugging her to the backstage area. "I'm so glad I found you! What's it been...? A whole year, right? That sucks. You didn't send any letters, and so I didn't have an address, or I'd have come to visit you! Oh, that reminds me! Gimme your phone number! Oh, here's a pen... just write it on my arm. So, got a boyfriend?"

Hinata snapped out of her daze, and looked up at her sister from the arm on which she was brainlessly writing the number to her, Shino, and Kiba's apartment. "I don't have time for boyfriends," she relayed honestly. Hanabi laughed.

"Sometimes I feel the same way. Hi!" she said, grinning up at the bouncer. He looked her up and down, and smiled back. "Hey. You wanna come in?"

"I sure do," Hanabi said back. Hinata looked up at the man.

"God evening, Hayate." Her voice was as soft as always, but her eyes gave away the protectiveness of her sister's honor. Genma recognized the look and inwardly sighed. Not this chick, then. Everyone who worked at the Theatre knew, or had at least met, Hinata, and each of them held a respect for her. Hayate took Hanabi's tickets and ushered the sisters in, though Hinata was practically dragged through. At the shutting of the door behind them, Hinata's brain snapped back to action, and she realized where she was and what she was doing.

She suddenly felt faint.

"Hey!" Sakura greeted warmly, giving a little wave and a smile. "Make yourselves comfortable," she gestured toward a few plush couches that were familiar to Hinata, but were, she guessed, extremely new and exciting to Hanabi. "I'll go get the guys." She left through a door that led to the stage. Hanabi squeeled and lept from couch to couch, testing each one, and finally settling on the one she started at.

"This is so cool, Nee-chan! I can't believe you work here!" She paused. "You do work here, right?"

Hinata nodded nervously.

"What do you do?"

"I... I..." Her mouth was curiously dry. She tried to swallow. "H-Hanabi-chan, I don't think I... I mean, I should probably g-"

She was interrupted by the door banging open. A burst of yellow, orange, and black invaded her view, and she felt the blood drain from her face. "Hi!" cried a loud, cheerful voice. "Uzumaki Naruto at your service!" He took Hinata's hand in his and shook it vigorously. The blood was back, and her face was drenched in a dark pink color. The blond leaned in close, ceasing the maul on her hand. "Are you okay? You changed colors quickly."

Naruto-kun... so... close... GAH!

Hinata jumped back and Sakura hit Naruto upside the head, a vein bursting on her temple. "You moron."

Hanabi's eyes shone and she smiled widely at the dark-haired man who'd crept into the room unnoticed by Hinata. He glanced her way. So did Sakura.

"Hey, you look familiar..." Naruto said, speaking what his band-mate's eyes were saying. She blinked, swallowed, and cleared her throat.

"I... I..."

Hanabi to the rescue! "She works here!"

"Ah!" Sakura snapped her fingers and smiled. "That's right! You're the DJ!"

"You're the DJ, Nee-chan?" Hanabi's jaw dropped. "Cool!"

"Oh yeah!" Naruto said. "You're that dark chick on the balcony!"

Th... that dark chick?

Hinata mentally flinched. "Y-yes," she mumbled, slowly moving closer to her sister, who was giving flirtatious smiles to the Uchiha.

She found herself wishing she had just agreed to get ice cream with Kiba.

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**I wrote this a looong time ago. And I convinced myself to post it because I'm in a NaruHina funk right now. Thank you, Shippuden!!  
****This was intended to be a oneshot, but it might… be a while before I get the next part out. Another thankee to Winter Thunder who caught so many (coughALLcough) of my mistakes. You're so accurate, duckie!  
****Hinata says that she'll jump Naruto's bones in the next filler arc if you'll review!  
****-Bya**


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